


You're home now kitten

by thesedumbbois



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hybrid Louis, M/M, not a lot but yes, slight mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 17:25:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17666888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesedumbbois/pseuds/thesedumbbois
Summary: “But, I'm just a stray” Louis looks so broken, sad, disappointed almost. Not even daring to look up from the floor, fumbling with his hands, ears down submissively. The sight almost makes Harry, known to everyone for his soft heart, tear up.“Nope, followed me here, this is your home now.” Harry smiles, speaking confidently, surprised himself that his voice didn’t come out shaky with emotion. “That’s the rule” He shrugs....Louis is a stray and he follows Harry home. Harry likes him too much and makes him stay and Louis ends up quite liking it.





	You're home now kitten

**Author's Note:**

> I found this half written in my old computer and decided to finish it, had been a while since I wrote anything so I do hope this is not too hard to read.  
> I proof-read this about a million times but if you notice any mistakes please do let me know

Louis houses further behind the dumpster in a useless attempt to hide from the tall, curly man at the entrance of the alley.

“Hey, are you alright?” He hears him ask, closer now. Louis is pressed up against the wall, attempting to hide himself in the darkness, to blend with it and somehow break the laws of physics and maybe disappear into it.

“Hey” the voice coos and Louis opens his eyes to find the guy knelt right in front of him. He presses himself even further against the hard wall, fear evident in his eyes, ears low, hugging his own tail tightly against his chest.

“Y-es” He chokes out, barely above a whisper, after what feels like some of the longest seconds of his life.

Harry nods and steps back, into what he imagines to be a more respectful distance, realizing he's probably scaring the cowering boy by standing so close.

“Are you hungry?” He asks, not actually expecting an answer as he looks through his bag, lazily draped on his shoulder. He knows for a fact the small hybrid is hungry as when he first spotted him Louis was halfway inside the nearly empty dumpster trying to reach, what he believed was probably, a moldy piece of bread. “Here” he smiles, holding a plastic container for Louis to take. “It's not much, but it's quite good” he shrugs, placing the container in between the, when the hybrid doesn't reach out to take it.

“Thank you, sir” He whispers hesitantly at the same time someone yells from the street, drowning his voice.

“Oi Harry! mate come on, they're waiting for us!”

“Coming!” Harry yells back, giving Louis one last smile before he straightens himself and walks away. Louis peeks out from the corner and watches him walk away to a blonde guy that waits leaning on a wall. And wastes no more time, immediately grabbing the plastic container and eating the food he’d been gifted.

 

The dynamic continues like that for a few weeks, Harry slowly gaining the hybrid’s trust through food, slowly managing to crouch closer to him, and earning small smiles in return. The day Louis let him pet him he couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day, very proud of himself and his incredible patience. Patting himself on the back for his self control, because frankly, the more time he spends with Louis, the more he just wants to pick him up, swing him over his shoulder and take him home with him. But he’s aware such actions could tear down all progress he’s made so far with the stray so he holds himself back.

It becomes routine, Louis always waits for Harry in the same alley, and Harry always arrives with various kinds of non-rotten foods. That is until one evening Harry isn’t able to stop by the alley on his way home, preoccupied about the work he has to do, running through a long list of chores in his mind he simply walks past, not even thinking about it until he’s home, putting a container of food he’d prepared for Louis on the fridge.

That same evening Harry is working on the kitchen table when he hears meowing outside. He frowns, more confused than anything, looking up and making his way to the sliding door to look out into the darkness of the back yard. He takes a sip of his tea and spots a figure in the yard. He squints his eyes trying to make out whatever the fuck is sitting outside on that cold night. Without taking his eyes off the figure he reaches for the light switch and turns the exterior light on. He is instants away from spitting out the tea, surprised to find the cat-boy sitting outside, looking absolutely heartbroken. Harry fumbles with his mug as he's setting it down, safely away from his startled hands, while also attempting to unlock the door. He finally manages to and swings it open, stepping outside into the cold air in pajama pants and a thin brown sweater.

“Hello, hi” He says still in disbelief, walking to Louis. “Come in, it’s freezing out here!” Harry had been out for a few seconds and was already feeling his fingers and nose freezing. He ushers Louis in the direction of the house, the latter hesitantly stepping inside. Harry closes and locks the door behind himself and as soon as he turns around Louis wraps his cold thin arms around him. He returns the hug, embracing the younger boy in an attempt to warm him up.

“I’m sorry I followed you home, you didn't show up and well i didn't know if you were annoyed or busy, or if maybe you didn’t have anything to give me today. But i don’t care much about that anyways, because I just like your company now so I was scared you were abandoning me.” Louis mumbles, quickly against Harry’s neck and all in one breath. Harry frowns and rubs his back soothingly, remaining silent. “I’m sorry, I’m, I should leave” Louis says, suddenly letting go fully aware of his actions now that he’s calmed down, and stepping away from Harry about fifty steps in under a second and trying to reach for the door.

“Woah, hey, hey no. It’s really cold outside, stay here.” Harry stops him, blocking the door with his body, looking at him with concern, almost attempting to read Louis’s mind with his bare stare. A smile tugs on Louis’ lips for a second, finding Harry’s blocking comical because a) Louis could easily squeeze past him and b) it’s an awfully ridiculous pose he got himself into. However the smile vanishes in an instant and is replaced with a deep sadness, clear in his eyes.

“But, I'm just a stray” He looks so broken, sad, disappointed almost. Not even daring to look up from the floor, fumbling with his hands, ears down submissively. The sight almost makes Harry, known to everyone for his soft heart, tear up.

“Nope, followed me here, this is your home now.” He smiles, speaking confidently, surprised himself that his voice didn’t come out shaky with emotion. Louis whips his head up surprised, it almost sounds too good to be true. He eyes Harry suspiciously. Honestly he was expecting him to kick him out for some reason, not impose a home on him. So he's not really sure what else to do, besides look at Harry with a confused stare. “That’s the rule” He shrugs. “Come on, I’ll prepare a bed for you.” Harry offers him a big smile and pats his shoulder before walking past him. For a second Louis hesitates whether to run out, now that he has the opportunity, or follow the curly haired boy. He yawns and that’s pretty much enough for him to make up his mind.

Harry makes his way up the stairs and Louis follows him close behind, holding onto the back of Harry’s shirt, as if the house were big enough for him to get lost if he stood any further than two steps away from him. Harry fetches some blankets and pillows from the depths of his closet and, noticing Louis’ refusal to step away from him, arranges him a sort-of-bed by his own. Louis sits on Harry’s bed, watching him intently, making Harry laugh to himself as he imagines the kitten feels like some sort of quality control aide. Harry looks up once he’s done, hands on his hips and a pleased smile on his face. Just now, under the soft light of his room, does he really notice just how thin and dirty Louis looks. How small and afraid he seems, as if he could make himself tiny enough to disappear if he really wanted to.

Having noted how long it took Louis to warm up to him, as little as he'd done, he decides they can postpone the bath part and instead decides to stick to food first. Forgetting for an instant that Louis can't read minds, Harry turns and exits the room without a word, leaving a confused cat-boy behind. Louis follows him back down the stairs quickly, stumbling over his own feet to catch up and holding onto Harry's sleeve.

“Sit here” Harry says as he, completely forgetting how probably unused Louis is to sudden touches, lifts up the small hybrid into a stool by the counter. Louis sits, stiff and uncomfortable as he watches Harry move around the kitchen. Harry goes to find and reheat the fish fillet that he had initially intended to give Louis that day and places the plate in front of him. Louis hesitates at first, but Harry smiles and inches the food closer to him. And without any further convincing, Louis quickly starts shoving the food into his mouth making Harry laugh and, before he can stop himself, ruffling his hair.

“Hey, enjoy it a little bit. No one’s going to take it away from you here.” Louis gives him a small shy smile that vanishes shortly after and starts eating slower. Harry smiles, feeling slightly relieved because part of him was scared Louis would choke with the way he was eating.

He watches Louis as he eats, leaning back on the sink. It’s quite apparent to Harry that Louis wasn’t born in the streets. To begin with he’d probably not be able to speak if that were the case and, although easily frightened, his friendliness towards him and general understanding of household items tells him he probably used to have an owner, although not a very good one he’d imagine. Perhaps an abusive one even. He clenches his jaw as this thought makes its way into his head and he looks at Louis, sitting there, looking too submissive for his own good.

It isn’t uncommon for people to raise hybrids as pets and discard them when they get past a certain age or size, especially kitten hybrids. That thought alone pisses him off, feeling doubling when he pictures Louis in that situation, scared, confused and hurt. Discarded like an old toy, probably too young to fully understand what was happening. But the anger dissipates when Louis is done eating and looks up at him with a goofy little smile that hurts Harry's heart, in a good way. Harry returns the smile and rubs Louis behind the ear without thinking, glad to earn a content little noise from him instead of a scratch when Louis jumps and he realises he touched him again without warning. He should get better at controlling that, Louis is definitely not used to Harry being so touchy. Harry wouldn't really blame him if he were to actually attack him at some point when he does that. Then again, he looks so small and soft Harry just can’t help himself.

Louis yawns and so Harry put the plate in the sink and then guides the hybrid back up the stairs. He turns to his closet, thinking he should lend him some clean clothes. But when he finally finds a sweater and turns around Louis is already curled up on the improvised bed, sleeping soundly and Harry decides its best not to wake him. He shuts the lights off and goes to bed himself falling asleep soon after, Louis soft snoring a nice white noise in the background.

.

Louis wakes up in the middle of the night, sweating, and with tears damping his cheeks. He stretches and yawns, disoriented for a second, the warmth of the house bringing back memories that make him panic for an instant. He's in the brink of some form of panic attack when Harry snores particularly loud and brings him back to reality.

He blinks and with a few deep breaths manages to relatively calm himself. Noticing how dry his mouth feels, he rubs his eyes sleepily with the dirty sleeve of his sweater, and makes his way down the stairs. He pours himself a glass of water, but having never held slippery glass, - or drank from one, which also results in him pouring half of it on himself- it escapes his grip and smashes loudly on the floor. He jumps back, startled by the sound and the impact.

“Louis!” Harry yells behind him in, what seems to be, not a second later. Louis turns around to face him, shaking with fear, calculating any and all fast fleeing options.

“Im sorry, im sorry, im sorry” he whispers falling to his knees, defeated, upon realising any way he tried to run Harry would probably be able to catch him. In a panic Harry runs to him, and although Louis flinches, waiting for an impact, he feels Harry picking him up instead.

“You're going to cut yourself, careful” Harry tells him sleepily as he sets him down on the counter. Louis stares at him, not really believing the softness of Harry's touch or voice, almost wanting to look around to make sure he's indeed talking to him.  

“I was thirsty, I shouldn't have” He tries to excuse himself, still attempting to find his way out of a non-existent punishment. Harry laughs warmly as he cleans up the glass from the kitchen floor.

“Hey, it's alright, I don't want you to dehydrate or whatever. Just be careful kitten, you could've gotten hurt.” He gives Louis a tired smile, barely suppresses the need to rub his cheek or ears, and makes his way back upstairs to sleep. Louis sits on the counter for a few more minutes, silently crying, unable to shake off the feeling that Harry must be mad at him now. He must be. There is simply no way he isn't, probably regrets letting him stay now.

He finally decides to get some sleep, so he cleans his tears and jumps off the counter. Slowly he makes his way up the stairs, and still hesitant, silently slides inside Harry's room. With a sigh he curls up back on top of the covers Harry took out for him and falls back asleep, the sounds of Harry's breathing, soothing. A nice difference to the loud, harsh noises he used to hear from the streets, or the crushing silence of his old house. He doesn't wake up until late in the morning of the next day.

..

Harry roams through the pet ailes. In a basket already carrying cat-hybrid soap and shampoo “for an incredibly soft hair effectively free from fleas and ticks” that he'll be the judge of, a nice brush to “easily get rid of tangles and knots”, an incredibly soft blanket, food and vitamin supplements as well as some treats he'd been convinced to get by a nice employee. He looks at the variety of collars not sure what to pick, getting lightheaded while imagining Louis in all of them until finally deciding on a simple black one with a small bell and a tag. He then makes his way to the clothes’ section, picking out some underwear for the kitten at home, knowing none of his own would even come close to fitting him. As he’s about to leave, he remembers the incident in the morning and decides to pick up a sippy cup from the kid’s aisle. He doesn’t really mind his glasses being smashed, but he sure doesn’t want Louis accidentally cutting himself with the glass.

“I need something that won’t spill even if he flips it over” He explains to an employee, who hands him a nice one with handles and a lid that promises to be spill free in any and all circumstances. Harry very much loves just thinking of how adorable Louis will look while he figures it out.

He pays for everything, not without a nice chat with the elderly lady who rings his things, and heads home. He’s attempting to open the door while holding all the bags in his hands- as he bluntly refused to make more than one trip to the car- when he hears a pained meow. In a panic he unlocks the door, slaps the wall until he finds the switch and turns on the light. As soon as he does Louis is on him, all Harry sees is his shape running straight to him and then feels his arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he sobs gently.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong love?” He sets the bags on the ground and kicks the door shut, then returning the hug.

“I just- I was… I didn’t know when you were coming back. I was- I was alone for so long.” He answers, tightening his grip on Harry, who gently rubs his back and combs his hair with his fingers.

“It’s okay, I’m here now. I’m sorry I took so long.” He presses a soft kiss on Louis’ temple, noticing how awfully stiff and dirty his hair feels. He holds him for a few minutes, knowing he can’t even begin to imagine the thoughts that must’ve drowned Louis while he was alone. He wants to know, but not wanting to make matters worse, and knowing he’s got other things at hand in that instant he decides not to ask. And quietly hugs Louis until he hears his breathing becoming even and his tail brush against the back of his hand, that rests on his lower back. “Hey Lou?”

“Yes?” He answers still in a quiet tone, voice hoarse.

“I got you some things, kitten.” Louis lets go, takes a single step back and sinks to the floor, his curiosity at peak, to investigate what’s inside the bag. Coincidentally to Harry's thoughts, he takes out the shampoo bottle first.

“Ah yes, first things first. You need a bath.” Harry declares, and laughs when Louis runs up the stairs as soon as the word “bath” leaves Harry's lips.

“Come on Lou, you stink!” He exclaims, picking up the bags and setting them on the table. Getting only some sort of disagreeing whinny sound in response. He takes out the shampoo, soap, brush and underwear and carries them upstairs and into the bathroom, setting them down by the sink. He lets the warm water run and fill the tub while he goes find the cat. “Lou?” After searching pretty much everywhere else he finds him in the closet, sat at the bottom.

“No!” He yells, trying to run past Harry, who wraps an arm around his waist as he's trying to escape and easily stops him.

“Yes” He smiles, picking up the squirming hybrid and carrying him to the bathroom. He locks the door and Louis helplessly whines against it, not sure how the damn lock works. Meanwhile, Harry finishes preparing the bath, making sure the water isn't too hot or too cold and turns to Louis once it’s ready. He walks to his sunken shape by the door, and although Louis continues to shake his head and pout, allows Harry to take off his dirty jumper.

“Up, kitten” He instructs and Louis stands up, without really thinking, past experiences to disobeying orders and Harry's tone of voice simply forcing him to subconsciously do. Harry leans down and takes off the smaller boy’s underwear, who leans on his shoulders for support when he steps out of them.

“It’ll be okay” Harry smiles warmly as he stands back up and guides Louis inside the bathtub. Louis tenses when he steps into the water, hesitantly sinking down to sit at the bottom of it when Harry tells him too. Harry washes him with gentle hands, getting rid of the accumulated dirt on his hair and skin, and soon Louis realises the water is actually not all that bad. Harry rubs his back and his shoulders and his neck. He scrubs away the dirt on his arms, his fingers and his legs. Louis allows himself to relax, intently following Harry's hands as they roam over his body, tensing up and looking at Harry in shock and disbelief when he goes a tad too far up his thighs. Harry laughs, shaking his head.

“Sorry. Close your eyes” He does, jumping when Harry rinses his hair, straightening up, ears twitching as he feels the water running down his face, Harry's fingers combing through his hair.

Soon enough Louis is out of the bath again, trembling slightly until Harry wraps him up in a warm fluffy towel, watching him smile contently and close his eyes, leaning into him as he enjoys the soft warmth of both the towel, and Harry’s body.

Louis sits on the bed, ears twitching every time a drop of water drips from his hair onto his face. He’s tightly wrapped in the towel curiously observing Harry, who searches through his closet for a warm hoodie to change him into. He finally finds a yellow one that he supposes shouldn’t be too big and proceeds to unwrap the towel from Louis’ body and use it to carefully dry his hair, ears and tail. Louis falls back on the bed, stretching out on it and smiling contently as Harry slips a pair of soft underwear up his legs. There was a slight discomfort on the pit of his stomach the short time he was naked in front of Harry, and ugly feeling that made his scars ache. Memories bite the back of his mind, but Louis manages to push them away, the feeling of comfort and content Harry simply seems to radiate onto him being stronger.

“Get over here” Harry smiles, patting his lap after he accommodates himself to sit against the headboard. Louis crawls over, sitting down between Harry’s legs, naked back pressing against the other's warm chest. Harry then proceeds to brush his, now clean, hair and tail, getting rid of any remaining knots, loving how soft his hair feels now as he combs it with his fingers. He studies Louis’ body, exposed back and shoulders tainted with marks, too thin for it be anything near healthy, and yet so beautiful and precious. Louis purrs as he leans against him, feeling warm and clean and safe for the first time in a long time. He opens his eyes surprised once Harry’s done, only now noticing the sound he’d been making.

“You made me purr!” He exclaims, sitting up, tail high, matching the surprise in his voice.

“Well you are a cat hybrid, aren’t you supposed to do so?” Harry asks in confusion, combing through Louis’ hair once more.

“Yes, it's just, I never do” He answers, unable to hide the huge smile on his face, leaning into Harry's hand. “Keep going!” He says excitedly as he leans back against Harry’s chest and puts his hand back on his hair. Harry laughs, and continues to pet Louis, who almost immediately begins to purr again and giggles excitedly.

…

Harry continues to absolutely spoil the absolute fuck out of Louis through the following days. Louis warmed up to Harry a lot easier and faster than he'd expected the kitten to do so, generally speaking, because some days Louis would be remarkably distant and frightened. Overall he was very clingy, and had gotten better at dealing with Harry not being home for some hours everyday. Usually though, as soon as he got home Louis was all over him. Always searching for some contact and as much attention as possible starting to even sleep on top of, or wrapped around him.

The first time he did so was the first time Louis slept through the whole night with, seemingly, no bad dreams. Harry had confronted him about them, as various things seemed to trigger both the dreams and his out-of-character attitude, but it seemed as if Louis wasn’t ready to talk about it and that was something Harry could respect. Although he was deeply worried about Louis and desperately wanted to know what was up with all of that.

He’d happily allowed Harry to put the collar on him. And it didn’t go unnoticed to him the marks on Louis’ neck that rested right where the collar fell. Louis had also loved the sippy cup idea. Frankly, Harry did too. Louis did a lot of gestures when he spoke, and appeared to forget he was holding thing while doing so. The cup had saved Harry from having to mop a lot of wet floors.

Louis lays comfortably on Harry’s bed, the scent of him all over the room particularly calming, when he hears the fumbling of keys and Harry’s deep voice on the front door. He jumps off the bed and is starting to run down the stairs when a strange voice replies something, actual words muffled by the door.

Harry enters the house followed by a blonde boy that looks slightly familiar but who Louis can’t name. So he decides tostay by the stairs, only slightly peeking from the corner.

“He’s a bit shy but should be somewhere around here. Louis?” He hears Harry say, him calling his name just enough encouragement for him to sneak out from where he’s hiding to meet Harry by jumping into his arms. Harry groans, slightly taken by surprise, but manages to keep his balance and carry him.  “Hey Lou” He smiles and the blonde boy coos at the kitten.

“Mate that’s cute” He smiles as he walks in and sets a backpack on the table.

“He is, isn’t he?” Harry says proudly with a big goofy smile and Louis can’t help but blush. Damn him being so sweet all the time. “Let me just serve him something to eat and then we can get working”

“Sure” The blonde boy takes a laptop out of his bag and sits on one of the chairs while Harry carries Louis away and into the kitchen. He prepares his food like he usually does and pets him on the head a few times before returning to the other guy.

They sit at the table for most of the evening, working on who knows what. A mystery Louis decides to accept as such mainly because he is far too nervous to go peek and decides to stay in the kitchen. All he knows is although he likes this “Niall” guy, as he heard Harry call him a few times now, he can’t help but feel jealous and grumpy and therefore, uneasy. Since Louis arrived Harry had been paying attention to no one and almost nothing else but him. Another clear difference with his past home, where he was basically completely ignored unless something was needed from him. He valued Harry's attention more than he'd ever done anything before. Therefore it makes sense for him to be mad now that he is not receiving any of it. Or at least that’s what he tells himself while just laying around alone on the couch bored out of his mind. At some point in the afternoon they start arguing over something, Louis can tell it’s not serious but decides to keep an eye on them out of curiosity.

“You cunt!” Niall yells at some point, standing behind Harry while looking at the computer screen, fact that already irritates Louis to the core so he prefers not to look. He turns over on the couch and is just getting comfortable when he hears Harry let out a scream and without even thinking jumps off the couch and runs directly to Niall. Taking him by surprise and managing to knock him to the floor absolutely enraged. How dare he hurt Harry? No one hurts Harry, not if he’s there.

“Louis!” He’s in the middle of defending his owner when a pair of hands wrap around his chest and waist and manage to pry him off of a still startled Niall. “Did he hurt you?” Harry asks, holding Louis as far from his confused friend as possible.

“Nah, just a few scratch- Oh god, he bit me!” He doesn’t sound irritated though as he points at a very obvious and painful-looking bite mark on his forearm. “I didn’t even notice, wow” Niall is not mad at all about Louis’ sudden attack, but Harry is. Louis is still squirming in his grip, hissing at Niall, when Harry helps his friend up, managing to hold Louis back with one hand briefly as he does.

“Sorry, I’ll bring something to clean you up with” Niall nods, heading for the sink to clean it up while Harry carries a hissing Louis up the stairs. “Why would you that?” He asks, setting him down on the bed and Louis is taken back by the tone of his voice. “You hurt him Louis, why?”

What does he mean _why_? Louis is extremely confused to say the least, he was just defending him! Words escape him, a million thoughts run through his mind, but he only sits there, frozen. “Answer me dammit!” Now Louis really is taken back, his heart feels heavy on his chest, tail flat on the bed, ears down with the realization that he’s fucked up. There’s a lump in his throat preventing him from speaking, eyes welling up with tears that he hides by looking down at his hands. Harry sighs, petting his head lightly before heading for the door. And Louis wants to say it, he really wants to, that he’s sorry, that he won’t do it again, and that he did it in the first place because in his stupid mind he thought Harry was being hurt. But he stays quiet, unable to speak.

“Stay here, we’ll talk later” Is the last thing he says before leaving, locking the door from the inside. An action that wasn’t really necessary as Louis would’ve stayed anyways because Harry told him to. He slumps down on the bed, curling up as much as he possibly can, sobbing into his hands.

…

Harry cleans Niall up, as Louis managed to break the skin.

“Christ, he does like biting but i didn’t think he could do it so hard! Sorry.” Harry apologizes as he desinfects the wound and other scratches Louis so kindly gifted Niall with. Niall laughs in response.

“It’s fine, shit happens dude. If we as humans are unpredictable, and animals can be pretty impulsive I can’t imagine what goes on through the mind of a hybrid. Much less a cat-hybrid, I don’t even understand cats! Hell, sometimes I don't understand you!” He shrugs and Harry laughs with him this time.

“Maybe I’m too soft with him. I might spoil him too much, he did also try to jump on the maid the other day” Harry mumbles more to himself, thinking out loud.

“Well, he _is_ a stray, right? And ya’ said it looks like he was abandoned, makes sense to me that he’d be super clingy and possessive. He might’ve thought I was hurting you, I don't know! Again, I seriously don’t understand cats.”

“Yeah, suppose you’re right.” They brush off the topic with jokes and laughs as they continue working, until Niall decides he should head home before it gets too late and Harry waves at him from the door.

Louis hears Niall leave and he wants to run to Harry, he wants to explain himself. But for some reason he feels heavy, unable to, and he remembers the door is locked anyways so he wouldn’t be able to leave the room even if he were able to stand up. He hears Harry coming up the stairs, he hears him opening the door and feels him sit on the bed next to him. He feels his hand gently stroking his hair and he wants to speak, but he’s too tired. Too tired and he slowly feels himself fall asleep to Harry’s touch, not managing to explain himself before he does.

Harry lets him, deciding maybe he needs to rest before dealing with the stress and decides to go to bed too. He changes and lays under the covers taking Louis into his arms, who instinctively curls up closer.

Louis barely gets out of bed the next day. Harry’s too busy with a project, working outside the whole day to actually realize the kitten hadn’t even eaten anything. That is, until he gets home late at night and notices the food he’d prepared for him, still on the counter, untouched. He frowns, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the back of one of the chairs. He walks up the stairs to find Louis in the exact same place he’d been when Harry left that morning.

“Louis, are you feeling okay? You haven’t eaten, kitten” He speaks softly, kicking off his shoes and sitting at the edge of the bed and brushing back Louis’ hair gently, immediately noticing how hot his skin feels and how pale he looks. He gets back up right away and gets a hand towel from the bathroom, damps it with cold water and runs back to place it over Louis’ forehead.

“Louis? Do you feel sick? Want me to take you to the doctor’s?” He asks worriedly, already starting to put his shoes back on. Jumping on one foot to get it in, while attempting to put the wet cloth on the boy’s forehead.

“Harry” Louis manages to choke out, voice hoarse and pained. Harry runs down the stairs and puts his coat back on, gets his keys, calls for an Uber, because he doesn't trust himself to take Louis on his first car ride without him holding him, and then runs back upstairs to Louis. He lifts him off the bed and the kitten barely has enough energy to wrap his arms and legs around Harry. “Don’t fall asleep, baby.” Harry warns him, fearing he might not be able to wake him up if he does. He carries him down the stairs and Louis laughs mentally at the timing of that comment because he really was just about to drift off. Harry picks up Louis’ blanket from the couch and covers him with it, confirms that the driver is okay with Harry taking a cat-hybrid along and then waits by the door, walking back and forth with Louis in his arms as he waits for the car to arrive.

The drive to the vet seems eternal to both of them, partially because the one they're heading to is slightly far from his home but also because Louis feels awful and Harry feels like he’s getting sick himself because of how freaked out he is. He holds Louis, who’s slumped on his lap and is feeling incredibly warm despite the cold air coming in from the open windows.

…

Harry is anxiously sitting on the waiting room of the vet, Louis laying down with his head on Harry’s lap, who pets him gently with shaky fingers. He imagines if he’s feeling this nervous Louis must be a wreck inside.

“Hey Harry, come on in.” The doctor, his old friend Liam, finally calls them and so Harry picks up his sick kitten in his arms again and walks into the office. He lays Louis down on the cold metal bed and so the boy whines in protest when it touches his warm skin. “Let’s see. What seems to be the problem?”

“W-well he hasn’t eaten, or drank any water and he’s got this awful temperature. He’s a lot paler than usual t-too, I didn’t know what he had so I imagined it was a much better idea to bring him to you.” Harry runs his hand through his own hair as Liam examines Louis.

“Shit Harry yes, but why are you bringing him in just now? When did his symptoms start?” Liam says worriedly once he’s done cheking Louis’ vitals and his temperature, barely able to do so as Louis keeps pushing him away and scooting back, visibly uncomfortable.

“Just between yesterday and today” Louis whines and reaches out for Harry’s hand, who gets the hint and walks closer to the table, holding his smaller hand between his own.

“Seriously? He’s very dehydrated, not much of a surprise seeing how much he’s sweating but dude, his health is just awful. I would’ve thought he had to have been sick for a week at least.” Liam explains while he’s preparing an IV.

“He was alright the rest of the time though.” Harry frowns, trying to remember if there’d been anything he hadn’t quite noticed before or brushed off.

“Help me hold his arm” Liam instructs Harry how to do so and he does while Liam puts the IV into Louis’ arm, who trashes around weakly, not very keen of the needle.

“He’d been eating, and purring and okay!” Liam secures it and so Harry let’s go of Louis’ arm, the kitten immediately goes to try and remove it but Harry slaps his hand away and holds it instead.

“Well, you did tell me he was a stray” Liam rubs the back of his neck as he looks Louis over. “It’s very possible that he was already sick when you brought him in, but didn’t show any symptoms while he was getting used to his new life. The mind is a powerful thing honestly. Was he under a lot of stress recently, maybe?” Liam goes to write some things down. “We’ll probably need a blood test” He mumbles before looking up at Harry, who now looks incredibly guilty as he holds Louis’ hand in one of his own and the blanket in his other one. “Was he under a lot of stress, Harry?” Liam repeats himself.

“He bit Niall pretty badly yesterday, I-I had to scold him for it! But I was really angry… maybe, maybe it’s my fault after all...” Harry trails off as he speaks and looks like he’s about to break down in tears, and Liam, knowing his friend, walks over to give him a comforting hug.

“Hey it's alright, he's going to be just fine. You do need to scold him, can't just let him do whatever he wants all the time.” Liam smiles warmly as he steps back and pats his friend on the shoulder. “I'll prescribe him some medicine, he'll have to stay here so we can keep a close eye on him for a day or two… maybe more depending on how he reacts and how much he improves.” Harry nods cleaning the tears from his eyes. “And although you know I can't promise anything, I'm sure he'll be okay Harry.”

Harry smiles and carries Louis over to a cage where he'll be staying, he can see the fear in his eyes when he lets go of him, and the confusion when Harry covers him with the blanket.

“I'll be back” He promises and steps away, allowing Liam to close it and guide him away from a whimpering Louis.

“I'll call you to let you know how he's doing” Harry nods feeling numb and takes a taxi back home.

The place is dark and quiet. Too quiet, he doesn’t like it. He hadn't ever quite noticed how quiet it was before Louis. He takes off his coat and leaves his keys on the table, makes his way up the stairs with heavy steps, and into his room. Changes out of his clothes and sits on the edge of the bed. He’s not sure how long he’s been sitting there, staring at the blank wall. And it isn’t until his eyes land on the bed he had made for Louis and he sighs, that he realizes he’s feeling exhausted. He falls asleep, holding onto a pillow in an attempt to replace Louis’ shape.

Apart from the quietness of the house - that was frankly really beginning to bother Harry- he hadn't noticed how sort of empty his life felt without Louis either. He supposed he'd been okay with it because he hadn't known any different before. But he knows now, and he really does mind it now too. There’s an oddness to doing anything by and for himself, doesn’t feel quite right anymore.

He'd been without Louis for two days now. Two slow and painfully long days. As promised, Liam has called to keep him updated on the situation, but he was still worried sick. Thankfully his friend pulled him out of his misery this afternoon and told him he could pick Louis up now. So Harry drives in silence, he feels tired -having not been able to sleep very well last night- but a smile appears on his face every time he thinks about having Louis back home.

He talks with Liam for a few minutes before heading over for his kitten. There is considerably more movement today in the vet compared to the night Harry brought Louis.

“His health seems delicate, I'm not gonna lie. You did buy him those vitamins I told you though, didn't you?” Harry nods, rolling his eyes. As if he'd panickedly called Liam for help on the day Louis appeared on his garden and then ignored his advice. “Well he's probably missing his vaccines. You should bring him back soon for a proper check up but for now, he just needs to go home and rest. I'm sure he's not very comfortable staying here and there's no danger anymore. You know you can call me if anything happens but let's go get your hybrid. I can't talk serious with you when it looks like you’re not even listening and haven't slept all week.” Liam jokes when he notices Harry staring at the wall across and Harry playfully hits him on the back of the head, knowing very well he’d been obviously zoning out.

The second Louis eyes land on Harry he's meowing loudly and clawing at his restraints. Harry knows he probably wouldn't be able to, but it seems like Louis wants to break the door of the cage with his own bare hands. Liam opens the door and Harry leans down to pick him up. Louis wraps his arms firmly around Harry's neck, legs around his torso and rubs his face over Harry's neck and the side of his face. Harry laughs, rubbing his back lovingly.

“Yeah I missed you too kitten.” He smiles, and after thanking Liam for probably the millionth time, he makes his way to the front desk to pay. Louis hides his face in Harry's neck, but gives Liam a shy wave as they leave.

“You know what to charge him Laura.” Liam tells the receptionist, giving Harry a wink before calling his next patient in.

“Let me get my wallet.” Harry gently lowers Louis to the ground in order to be able to pay. The hybrid clings to his leg as he scans the room. All of the colour drains from his face when he recognizes the man walking towards them. He lets out a quiet whine, and although Harry was comfortably chatting with Laura while she handed him his change and told him all about a new brand of treats he was already convinced on buying, he hears Louis’ tiny sound of discomfort and follows his gaze to the man now standing next to him.

“Whatcha’ need mate?” He asks while carefully eyeing the man. Louis has his ears pressed against his head, tail tightly wrapped around his body.

“Just looking at what you've got there. Louis, ain't it?” Louis winces at the sound of his name when it comes out from the man’s mouth, suddenly feeling dirty, wanting to jump in the bad and scrub himself until the memories are finally washed from his skin, and presses himself further against Harry's leg.

“Yeah?” He shifts so that he now stands between Louis and the stranger.

“Little bastard used to be a favorite one for my friends. He ran away and we searched for months before giving up.” He smiles, but the gesture is far from friendly. Ignoring the way Louis flinches at the contact he pets him on the head. Harry clears his throat and the man continues. “Old man died so we stopped caring to find his stupid pet. Never understood why he liked him, little bitch could never be quiet, specially not when taking a hard fuc-”

“Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.” Laura interrupts him and although the man scowls he walks out the door and yells back a “good luck with that thing, nice to see who got the leftovers” at Harry. Harry frowns at the man’s back, he’s glad Laura didn’t allow him to continue speaking because he feels he was a word away from knocking the teeth out his mouth.

Louis breathes shakily and Harry picks him up. Immediately he wraps himself around Harry, sobbing quietly. Harry thanks Laura and leaves with the treats she bagged for him, now tense and angry.

He sits Louis on the passenger seat, strapping the seat belt on him before closing the door and walking around the car to his own seat. He slams the door shut, unaware of the way Louis jumps in his seat when he does.

They drive back home in silence. Harry grips the steering wheel and Louis notices the way his knuckles turn white, he notices the tenseness on his shoulders and the anger in his eyes. He sits next to him, quiet, too afraid to ask whether or not that anger is directed towards him. He fiddles with his thumbs, awful memories filling his mind. Maybe he really is too much of a burden, as he'd been so kindly reminded for years. Tears stream down his face in fear when a sudden realization dawns on him. _Is Harry going to abandon him now? Is he going to hurt him? Will he do so the way his past owner did?_ Harry is much bigger, surely it'll hurt far more. A loud sob rips from his throat before he can stop it and he freezes for an instant. Harry looks over at him worriedly but Louis is too scared to look at him.

“Lou?” Harry parks the car on his driveway and gently he places a hand on Louis’ arm. The boy flinches away at the contact and Harry's heart shatters in his chest. The last thing he wants is for Louis to be scared of him. He makes his way to the front door of the house with a pained sigh and unlocks it, intending on carrying Louis inside. The kitten has different plans though, and as soon as Harry helps him remove his seatbelt Louis jumps off and runs inside the house. Harry stands outside, still holding the door open and taken back for a couple minutes, before finally making his way inside the house as well.

He takes off his jacket and leaves the keys on the table, proceeding to poke his head inside all of the rooms looking for Louis. He finds him in the bedroom, curled up tightly under the bed, only given away by an inch of his tail poking out.

“Louis” He can hear him sobbing, the sound muffled by what he imagines is probably his hand covering his mouth. He pulls him out from under the bed and tears threaten to fall from his own eyes when he notices how terrified Louis looks.

“Please don't hurt me” He finally speaks, voice so quiet Harry is not even sure he'd actually even spoken.

“Of course I won't kitten, no” Louis sits up and clings onto Harry’s shirt.

“Harry please don't. Please don't leave me, please don't hurt me. I'll be good. I'm sorry about biting your friend, I'm stupid, I won't do it again. I'll be good. Please don't leave me alone, don't make me go.” Heavy tears are running down his face and he cries loudly.

“Shh kitten, it's okay. Louis, look at me.” He holds his face in his hands and although he hesitates, Louis finally looks at him, placing his trembling hands over Harry's. “I'm not going to hurt you, and I won't leave you either.” He presses a soft kiss on his forehead and stands up. Louis is limp on his arms when he picks him up and lays him on the bed. He lays down beside him and in an instant Louis is curling up against him, body still shaking gently as he cries.

“I'm not going to hurt you.” He kisses Louis’ head and holds him against him. The kitten’s breathing becomes even after some time. Harry smiles, realising Louis has fallen asleep and decides to let him. Knowing he definitely needs the nap. His eyes are red, his cheeks damp with tears, and although he looks calmer he was still silently crying in his sleep. It breaks Harry’s heart to see Louis like this. He can’t understand why anyone would hurt such a beautiful creature. How could someone not see how precious he is? How could someone make him so scared? But he wants to know, he needs to know. He wants to help Louis, but he can’t do much when he doesn’t understand half of the story. Louis yawns, blinking as he wakes up and Harry can’t help but smile.

“Well good morning” Louis looks up at him with sleepy eyes and mumbles something that barely resembles the word “morning” back. Harry chuckles lightly and gently pets Louis’ hair causing the kitten to purr contently, pressing his face against Harry’s chest.

“Louis?” He hums in response, Harry continuing to pet his hair and rub his ears. “Can you tell me what earlier was about?” He can feel Louis tense up, and although he fears he’ll start crying again he knows they need to clear this up. “About what that man said, and why you thought I was going to hurt you. It seems like those sort of things have been bothering you at least since you got here and, well I understand if you don’t want to tell me but I care about you Lou, I want to help you.” Louis sits up, after a few seconds of silence. He leans against the headboard and hugs his knees to his chest, looking over at Harry with sad eyes.

“I- I do want to tell you Harry. But…” Harry sits up too, curious. Louis takes in a deep shaky breath before continuing. “But I’m afraid you won’t want me after you hear it.” He sobs and hides his face in his hands. Harry gently takes them and cups Louis’ face in his own, cleaning the tears off Louis’ cheeks with his thumbs.

“What happened in your past is not going to make me not want you. Nothing is going to make me not want you kitten.” He smiles reassuringly and Louis can feel his face heat up. Harry sits next to Louis and pulls the smaller boy into his lap. Louis leans his back against Harry’s chest and places one of Harry’s hands on his lap, fidgeting with his fingers.

“Okay.” He bites his lip, and takes a calming breath before starting. “I used to be a pet slave.” He begins, almost expecting Harry to push him away disgusted at that confession. When that doesn’t happen and instead Harry begins soothingly rubbing his arm he continues. “I’m not even really sure how I ended up there, and it wasn’t something I could ask either. But I was there… for so long. They hurt me, they hurt me so much, Harry. And I thought there was nothing I could do to stop it. There was nowhere for me to run. But I had a place to sleep there, food. So I stayed. I stayed thinking it was better than whatever was out there. I stayed because they made me believe it was the best choice. And I stayed until I couldn't take it anymore.” He sobs and Harry wraps his arms gently around him, pulling him close to remind him he isn’t alone. Louis cleans his tears, and places his hands on top of Harry’s arms, his tail tickling his skin. He shakes his head. “It was all too much one day. So I ran away. And then I was cold, and scared, hungry but… I felt safer. I’d given up on people though. I didn’t want anything to do with anyone anymore… until you showed up.” There's a shy smile on his lips and a light blush on his cheeks when he says this outloud. “But I’m sorry, I’m still scared. Sometimes I just, I’m afraid I’ll wake up back there. I’m scared, but I don’t want to be Harry. I’m trying so hard not to be. I love it here. I love it here with you, but it seems like I just can’t help it sometimes and it’s not your fault I just… I’m scared.” Harry places soft kisses over the back of Louis’ neck, squeezing him gently.

“It’s okay kitten. No one’s going to hurt you here. I’ll help you. I’m going to show you, you're home now. You don’t have to be scared.”

And he did.

Louis was anxious about having opened up to Harry the next few days. There was still a nasty feeling that Harry was going to push him away, but that never happen. So Louis told that little voice in the back of his head to fuck off. Louis began to share more about himself and his past, as did Harry. It was easy to talk to Harry, he felt safe. And it was relieving to get those feelings off his chest. Harry was always kind and sweet. He listened to Louis patiently and continuously reassured him. As the days passed Louis began to noticed Harry had slowly managed to convince him. The days when he felt scared were scarce ones. He felt safe now, mostly.

Harry invited Niall again, and this time they actually got to properly meet. Louis apologized and although Niall brushed it off it made him feel a lot better to do so. After that Harry felt like letting them meet had been a great mistake, for him. They got along incredibly well and Niall wasn’t exactly the best influence on Louis’ impressionable mind. His blonde friend basically performed every single one of the bad ideas that made its way into his head and so now Harry had to not only watch out for him trying to do stupid things, but for Louis as well. And although he rolled his eyes while he heard Niall tell Louis all about that time he did this or that he couldn't hide the smile on his lips.

It was harder for Louis to open up to Liam, as he poked him and made him take awfully tasting things whenever they went to his office. Or to Zayn, the poor soul who’d naively accepted to help Harry give Louis a haircut. But as the weeks passed, they started hanging out more with them in far more casual and less needle or scissors involving places and so Louis decided they weren’t really all that bad.

The boys had just left, having come over to watch a movie. Louis was sat on the couch while Harry waved at them from the door as they left. He was still laughing at something Niall had said when he walked back into the living room. Louis looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks and a bright smile on his lips. Confused, Harry hurried over, sitting next to Louis and taking his hands into his own.

“Lou, what’s wrong dear?” Louis shook his head and shrugged, still smiling. Harry placed his hand on his face, cleaning the tears with his  thumbs.

“I… I just feel so happy” He finally admits with a short laugh and Harry sighs with relief. He pulls Louis into him and he happily returns the hug, noozing his face on Harry’s neck. Harry pulls away and presses a kiss to Louis’ forehead, unable to fight his own smile as he does. Louis closes his eyes and sighs in relief, truly feeling safe now.

**Author's Note:**

> Heh, I'm sorry, I know the ending is a bit rushed I apologize. I've always been pretty bad at them, I might just need some more practice.  
> This is the kind of thing I might follow up with drabbles from time to time though so I might make it up to you then! (Or at least I'll try)  
> Hit me up on Tumblr though! Would love to chat: thesedumbboys


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